Learning the trombone from his grandfather and after only playing for three years, Ashley was awarded his Associate Diploma in Music (A.mus.A) at the age of 15 from the Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB). After graduating from Shalom Catholic College in Bundaberg he moved to Brisbane to study a Bachelor of Music Performance and Graduate Diploma of Music Studies with Benjamin Marks (ELISION) and Jason Redman (Principal Trombone, Queensland Symphony Orchestra) at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University.  

In 2012, Ashley moved to Melbourne to study at the Australian National Academy of Music under Michael Bertoncello. In 2015, Ashley moved to Chicago, USA, to study the Master of Music program at Northwestern University with trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Michael Mulcahy. During his time there, Ashley was the recipient of the William M. Spencer Award for academic excellence and was the winner of the 2017 Bienen School of Music Concerto Competition, the first trombone player to win the competition. Ashley graduated from Northwestern University in June 2017 with the Master of Music and was awarded Program Honours from the faculty at Northwestern.  

Ashley has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra.